All-factories mechanics and ideological purity

from GalCiv2 Forums

So, I'm playing my first all-factories game, on Painful with the Krynn.  

Actually, I'm only sort of playing all factories.  In my last few games I've played a sort of bastard all-facs, where I only build factories except on the bonus squares, and also keep the sliders at, like, 60% research, which is, I believe, completely goofy from an all-facs-strategy perspective, which relies on the efficiency of production keeping the ol' sliders heavy on social and military and using focus to do research.  So I did that the first several months, then read a bit more on the strategy and decided to go with the pure version.  So I dutifully slid the sliders to 50/49/1 (on the notion that maybe some research funding was needed for creativity) and watched my empire boom, pretty much.  

Only it's now the end of the colony rush, and what I pretty much want to produce is research.  I've got nearly half the galaxy, and, thanks to an early commitment to exotic worlds, the careful purchase of some obnoxiously-placed planets, Krynn influence, and a diplomatic advantage leftover from my early tech rush, pretty good galactic relations.  Won't last of course, but while it does I really want to burn through the sensors for Eyes, and up to stock markets, and up the miniaturization tree for tiny constructors, and even though I'm a complete tech-slut ain't nobody going to do missiles for me, especially since I researched lasers and sold 'em to the whole galaxy so they'll all be running beams when I descend with missile-armed-barrier-defended-warp-bubble-command-ship fleets, but that's a military secret so don't tell anyone.  

The question is, is it heretical in all-facs to slide the research slider over to 80% and let efficiency be hanged?  Or is there another way to drive the research effort that I'm missing?  'Cause right now the Thalans, with a fifth my planet/economy base, are outresearching me, and that just burns my bacon.  

Thanks!

strategies
5,454 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

"Burns my bacon". 

 

Definitely going to use that sometime.

 

My apologies, but I have no strategy tips with which to repay you.

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I usually play All-Fac and keep the sliders at 1/99/0.  All-Fac is so strong in DA that they nerfed it a bit in TA.

I only play DA and generally at Suicidal.  The first 10 - 20 turns get played differently, depending on the bonus tiles on the Homeworld and the surrounding environs.  That is, if there are multiple very high PQ worlds nearby, I may build/buy an extra colony ship.  Otherwise, I buy a research structure and put it on a research bonus tile and tweak the sliders each turn to get what I need to gain a tech.  I have found it important to get the first empire-wide bonus techs early, as they help all planets every turn once you get them.  This is stuff like Planetary Improvements, Xeno this-and-that, etc.

Also important is to convert the miner and get two planets colonized, so as to be able to gain multiple techs in research when the numbers would allow it.  Running to the Economic Capital and sensors (plus ion engines) are critical steps to being able to stretch out ones funds.  In all-fac, research on just focus is tough until one gets the enhanced factory and then the manufacturing center.  (I steer clear of Industrial Sectors, even unchecking the auto-upgrade boxes once I get Manufacturing Centers to prevent "upgrades.")  Once I get enhanced factories, I build over the original research structure(s).

In TA, I would expect the all-fac nerfing might extend the period of researching a bit before transitioning to pure all-fac.  Tweaking the sliders each turn to micro-manage research might be even more important in those early turns.

Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Even if you're not playing all-fac, it makes sense to tweak your research slider so that you don't waste too many TP at the end of a tech tree branch.  It's a case of finding the point where research time changes between X weeks and X+1 weeks, so you're spending just enough on research to get it done in X weeks.